Bosch and MAHLE plan sale of joint turbocharger business BMTS

Stuttgart/Germany, January 23, 2017 – The Bosch Group and the MAHLE Group have decided to seek a buyer for their joint venture, Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (BMTS). The joint subsidiary was founded in 2008. With a total of around 1,400 employees, it develops and produces turbochargers for manufacturers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Production is largely based in St. Michael/Austria and in Shanghai/China. In Germany, BMTS also has a presence at two further locations in Stuttgart and Blaichach. Thanks to the technology used in their production and their high quality, BMTS products have an excellent reputation in the automotive industry. They have received numerous industry awards.

Further investment is required

The international market for turbochargers is also expected to continue to grow in the years ahead as the trend toward smaller engines fitted with turbochargers, especially for hybrid drives, remains strong. BMTS has already benefited from this market trend. However, the company is not yet large enough to achieve sustainable success in this market environment. “Large production quantities and the associated economies of scale represent a critical competitive advantage,” says Dr. Rolf Bulander, Chairman of the Business Sector Mobility Solutions at Bosch. “Despite bulk orders received from renowned customers, the associated high capacity utilization at our plants, and above-average growth rates, present sales volumes at BMTS are still too low in comparison with our larger competitors and must be further expanded.”

For this reason, further investments are needed to achieve the company size required in the market. Bosch and MAHLE do not intend to drive forward the further expansion of BMTS themselves, because both parent companies need to focus their investments chiefly on new areas of development. “Thanks to our state-of-the-art locations and BMTS’s good products, we are currently confident of finding a prospective buyer, who will successfully expand the business,” states Wolf-Henning Scheider, Chairman of the MAHLE Management Board and CEO of the MAHLE Group.

Employee representatives and employees have been informed about the intention to sell the joint venture. Discussions are taking place with the relevant employee representatives to prepare the next steps in the sale process.

Engineering and products

Exhaust gas turbochargers are a key component of modern, energy-saving, and low-emission combustion engines in passenger cars and commercial vehicles. BMTS develops highly efficient solutions for gasoline and diesel engines, which are characterized by excellent responsiveness, ultrahigh levels of efficiency, and optimal acoustics. The company’s most recent achievement is the development of a variable turbine geometry for exhaust gas turbochargers in gasoline engines in large-scale production.

The market recognizes innovative standards of quality and technology as BMTS’s production strengths. In recent years, alongside product development, the company has made considerable investments in production processes, including end-of-line testing. BMTS is the world’s first company to test the perfect functionality of each individual exhaust gas turbocharger in a fully automated process at the end of the production line.

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MAHLE

MAHLE is a leading international development partner and supplier to the automotive industry. With its products for combustion engines and their peripherals as well as solutions for electric vehicles, the group addresses all the crucial issues related to the powertrain and air conditioning technology—from engine systems and components to filtration to thermal management. MAHLE products are fitted in at least every second vehicle worldwide. MAHLE components and systems are also used off the road—in stationary applications, for mobile machinery, rail transport, as well as aerospace and marine applications.

In 2015, the group generated sales of approximately EUR 11.5 billion with around 76,000 employees and is represented in 34 countries with over 170 production locations. At 15 major development locations in Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Slovenia, the USA, Brazil, Japan, China, and India, about 6,000 development engineers and technicians are working on innovative solutions for the mobility of the future.

Bosch

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 375,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2015). The company generated sales of 70.6 billion euros in 2015. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiaries and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch’s global manufacturing and sales network covers some 150 countries. The basis for the company’s future growth is its innovative strength. Bosch employs 55,800 associates in research and development at 118 locations across the globe. The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to deliver innovations for a connected life. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.”

The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.” The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-two percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. The remaining shares are held by the Bosch family and by Robert Bosch GmbH.